UN Tourism and The Bench Enter Groundbreaking Partnership to Drive Global Tourism Investment

UN Tourism and The Bench signed an MoU in Madrid to collaborate on tourism investment promotion, policy dialogues, and a Global Tourism Investment Pipeline via The Bench’s Future Hospitality Summit series.

UN Tourism and The Bench have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), marking the beginning of a strategic collaboration to advance tourism investment, innovation, and education on a global scale.

The agreement was signed during a formal ceremony in Madrid by Shaikha Al Nuwais, Secretary-General of UN Tourism, and Ali Shahid, Chief Executive Officer of The Bench. UN Tourism has been actively involved with The Bench’ events for many years, including FHS Saudi Arabia which took place in Riyadh last week, and this partnership is a natural next step to further elevate the collaboration.

The partnership establishes a framework for cooperation focused on fostering sustainable tourism development, strengthening public-private collaboration, supporting entrepreneurship and startups, and creating new opportunities for investment across global markets.

Potential exists in every destination. But potential only becomes opportunity when people choose to invest in it. Through this partnership, UN Tourism and The Bench will bring together the ideas, capital and partnerships needed to unlock tourism’s full contribution to economic growth, community development and long term resilience

Shaikha Al Nuwais, Secretary-General of UN Tourism

Through platforms including The Bench’s Future Hospitality Summit series, the collaboration will explore the development of global tourism investment initiatives, high-level policy and investor dialogues, knowledge-sharing programs, and innovation-focused activities designed to support the future growth of the tourism and hospitality sectors.

At The Bench, we believe meaningful progress happens when governments, investors, and industry leaders come together with shared purpose. This collaboration with UN Tourism represents an exciting opportunity to help drive innovation, facilitate investment, and create long-term positive impact for the global tourism industry

Ali Shahid, Chief Executive Officer of The Bench

The MoU outlines several strategic areas of collaboration, including tourism investment promotion, knowledge creation, innovation and startup support, and the expansion of international engagement opportunities through joint forums and initiatives.

Among the first initiatives that will be explored as part of the agreed Strategic Action Plan include the development of a joint Investment Facilitation Mechanism through curated investor engagement formats within FHS events, the establishment of dedicated UN Tourism Investment and Policy sessions at FHS events, and the development of a Global Tourism Investment Pipeline.